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For better or worse, California likes to decide drug policy at the ballot box. Voters have already approved marijuana legalization, but criminal sanctions against users of heroin, cocaine and other drugs are very much intact, though they’ve been moving in a more lenient direction. It would not be surprising to see a proposition entirely eliminating criminal penalties for drug possession in the near future. The removal of criminal penalties for drug possession — which is very different from...

Today, July 31, we acknowledge "Equal Pay Day" for Black women in this country, a day that marks the number of days into the next year that Black women on average would need to work to earn the same amount their white male counterparts made in the year prior. Black women make only 63 cents on average for every dollar a white man is paid. This may not seem like a significant difference, but 37 cents on each dollar earned adds up to a devastating economic disadvantage for Black women and their...

Did you know that when we say a child has an attachment disorder, it is often not the whole picture? It is only one part of a seven-piece jigsaw puzzle called ‘developmental trauma’. By putting together the puzzle, we can understand how a child’s adverse childhood experiences have shaped their emotional world and outward behaviour. Once we understand this, we can then work with a child to help them with their developmental trauma using an innovative therapeutic approach called the...

To all the parents who are worried that my son is in their child’s class: I heard through our mutual friend that you were asking whether my son is in the same class as your child. I wondered why my phone wasn’t blowing up with the “whose class is he in?” messages, as it often has after report cards and class assignments arrive in the mail. I certainly don’t mind my phone being quiet. But I do mind that you were asking other people instead of me. [For more of this story, written by Amanda...

When Malik Wade closes his eyes, it often has little to do with sleep. Instead, the San Francisco native visualizes an extraordinary world, one where the less fortunate succeed despite overwhelming odds, where impoverished urban youth recognize and push past the countless traps society sets for them, and where he rises from the smoldering ashes of his own destruction to erect an inspiring new existence for himself and the larger community. [For more of this story, written by D. Amari...

Climate change may have contributed to the suicides of nearly 60,000 Indian farmers and farm workers over the past three decades, according to new research that examines the toll rising temperatures are already taking on vulnerable societies. Illustrating the extreme sensitivity of the Indian agricultural industry to spikes in temperature, the study from the University of California, Berkeley, found an increase of just 1C on an average day during the growing season was associated with 67...

Greetings, ACN Community! I wanted to share this fantastic new resource guide developed by one of the work groups from the Georgia Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force. This guide provides background on best practice, principles of prevention, identifying resources for the classroom, developing a prevention plan, age appropriate teaching suggestions, analysis of specific programs, and guidelines for implementation and evaluation. It is really quite thorough and is full of excellent ideas...

A recent (July 31, 2017) Huffington Post article by Dawson Church PhD reports another significant milestone in the acceptance of EFT (tapping) as an accepted and recommended treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other post-traumatic and co-morbid conditions including depression and anxiety, this time by the US Veterans Administration: "Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) has been approved as a “generally safe” therapy by the US Veterans Administration (VA). After reviewing...

EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) is gaining a foothold in recognition recently by more academic and institutional health care delivery systems for use in a variety of conditions with causal roots in traumatic experiences and ACEs. Guidelines and recommendations for the use of EFT for PTSD have just been published by a major health organization. Kaiser’s peer-reviewed publication, The Permanente Journal, recently (Spring 2017 vol. 21 No. 2) published practice guidelines for using Emotional...

I was recently asked to be on the Incarcerate US podcast that is hosted by Dante Nottingham, an inmate who has been locked up since the age of 17. As you may know, incarceration in the US is at extreme levels and touches a wide variety of social issues, topics and dilemmas. At Incarcerate US, they believe that the solutions to our incarceration problems reside within the minds and hearts of the people. So the aim of our Incarcerate U.S. podcast is to interview a wide array of people across...

Social workers and other healthcare providers are invited and encouraged to join a webinar entitled: "Human Trafficking In Adolescents: Understanding the Issues as a Service Provider" Child sex trafficking, also known as commercial sexual exploitation or sex trafficking of minors, remains a complex and unaddressed form of violence against children and adolescents. It’s estimated there are approximately 100,000 victims and 300,000 youth at risk in the United States. Recognizing warning signs...

Our country is facing a crisis in leadership tenure. It's hard to accomplish change when leaders from across public sectors turnover with such frequency. In this "one of kind" retreat style workshop offered at the Hancock Inn in Hancock, NH, participants will examine compassion fatigue/vicarious trauma, the nervous system, the body's energy field, stress response, and means of achieving greater inner regulation and resiliency. This workshop is co-led by Rose Carey (owner of the Life Light...